I’m Taking the Pikes Peak Challenge

In a moment when I suddently forgot that I’m middle-aged, overweight, and out of shape, I registered for the Pikes Peak Challenge. It’s a hike up Barr Trail to the summit of Pikes Peak on September 12th to raise money for brain injury awareness and prevention. I get to start hiking at 5:00 a.m. - otherwise known as O-dark-thirty - it’ll still be dark for at least another hour, so I had to buy a headlamp. I’ll continue hiking up the mountain for 13 miles, gaining 7400 feet in elevation until I reach the summit at 14,110 feet. If you wanna feel what the “grade” is, set a treadmill for 8-10% incline and start walking - do that for 13 miles. While I’ve summitted Pikes Peak twice, I’ve never hiked up in one day - I’ve hiked half way, camped overnight, and hiked the rest of the way up and down the next day. This will definitely be a challenge for me! I just hope I make it past the half way point by the designated time so I don’t get turned around!

Why am I doing this hike? I started out doing it because a friend and I wanted to hike Pikes Peak and another friend told us there was a fundraising hike. We figured if we’re going to hike it anyway, we might as well help someone else, right? So, we, along with more than 350 other hikers, are going to raise money for the Brain Injury Association

Once I started reading about the fundraiser, I was even more glad that I decided to hike for this cause.
In the United States, a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) occurs every 23 seconds. Based on national estimates, there are more annual incidences of Traumatic Brain Injuries than Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal Cord Injuries, HIV/AIDS and Breast Cancer put together. It is estimated that over 20% of our American Soldiers are returning home with a TBI.

In this country there are 3 million persons living with breast cancer and public spending is $295 per person; 900,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS and public spending is $18,111 per person. In comparison, there are 5.3 million persons living with disability from TBI and public spending is $2.55 per person.

Here’s where I ask for money for the first time on this blog - I truly believe this is a donation worth making. I’ve already met my fundraising goals, but more money for the association can never hurt.

Please donate if you can . . . $1, $5, $10 . . . whatever. All donations are tax deductible, and you will recieve a receipt if you want one for tax purposes.

1. Go to the Pikes Peak Challenge web site.
2. In the upper right corner, click Make Donation.
3. If you want to apply your donation to my fundraising efforts, scroll down a little bit to the Hiker drop down and select my name. Or leave it blank to donate to the general fund.
4. Enter the rest of your donation information.

Think about me on Saturday around 10:30 a.m. mountain time and hope that I’ve passed the half way point! Think again between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. - I hope to climb the 16 golden stairs and summit Pikes Peak sometime during that window

Wish me luck!